Abstract
Over the years, viral infections such as influenza, herpes, and hepatitis have widely spread, with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) becoming even rifer. Antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs have been formulated to suppress virus activity in the body and prevent the transmission of these viruses effectively. However, the invention has come at a price as the drugs and their excreted metabolism/breakdown products generates have since generated pharmaceutical waste. With their continuous production and consumption, the pharmaceutical waste has found its passage to the central water systems, contributing to the depletion of the quality of water. The principal culprits that perpetuate the occurrence of these pollutants in various water bodies are the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). South Africa, facing non-ending droughts, has its hydrologic cycle unrefreshed, compelling the nation to resort to the use of recycled water. However, the removal and breaking down of these contaminants of emerging concern has thus far been a challenge and blocking access to clean and safer drinking water. A few to none effective technologies have been developed to degrade ARVs in water specifically. There is a need, therefore, to develop effective techniques to remove these pollutants, and thus purify water. Heterogeneous photocatalysis, with the use of nanomaterials, has emerged as one of the promising technologies that can be incorporated in the WWTPs to increase their efficiency. Thus, this work presents the use of a novel nanocomposite of niobium (V) oxide nanoflowers intercalated into the walls of few-layer black phosphorus (FL-BP@Nb2O5) for the photodegradation of nevirapine. Nevirapine is an ARV drug that is frequently detected from the central water bodies...
M.Sc. (Chemistry)